I usually read manga about junior/highschool romance like The Dangers in My Heart and others like it (thus I don't usually watch the anime). When I do, I'm not self inserting into it but more so vicariously re-experiencing my own highschool romances and sometimes 'looking on' like a proud sibling of sorts, or more like the ghosts watching everything happening in Ella Enchanted (after they were murdered [was that Ella Enchanted?]).

I often see people saying stuff like this in the comments, of an internationally popular manga with a similarly popular anime adaptation, and I have to wonder what their highschool/junior high life was like because for some reason they cannot relate to the character or plot and view it from an outside perspective and project this onto other people. When I'm reading or watching media like this I'm totally immersed, thinking of my first crush or first kiss or cheering the protagonist (à la Ella Enchanted(?)).

Also downvote because it is a somewhat popular opinion in my experience lol.

I also wonder what you might think of this manga (iirc it's getting animated in the future):

https://mangadex.org/title/157ab2cc-1fc7-4b29-8955-72d94a140982/kesa-mo-yuraretemasu

It's pretty much what the readers/watchers are feeling when they consume media about highschool romance.

*Also, iirc from the psych classes I took at uni, ~1% of the global population has paedophilia, and ~0.2% of those people are also co-morbid with psychopathy which means they can harm children with no remorse. So, calling EVERYONE that watches or reads globally popular animes and mangas that focus on high school/junior high romances is statistically wrong and stupid. <.< Looks at almost everyone in this thread >.>